


nostalgia

by jaejaesus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Reincarnation, Second Chances, but death is not written in detailed and does not realy affect storyline, cha minho is here, son jiwoo is here as well, the crossover of cha minho and son jiwoo we never thought existed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27557197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaejaesus/pseuds/jaejaesus
Summary: "Can you please stop holding my wrist? I didn’t come here to be touched like this."After a tragedy had occured in their neighborhood, Cha Minho and Son Jiwoo found themselves parting ways with each other, not being able to stop the unstoppable.Now living as Jung Jaehyun, he could not help but feel a sense of familiarity as he found himself sharing eye contact with his fellow trainee, Kim Doyoung.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	nostalgia

Laughter resonated in the silent library as Minho found himself making another clueless mistake on the work he was doing. Not that the older didn’t mind though. He had always loved hearing the laugh that comes out of the lips of Jiwoo. It was like a melody, that one song he would always find playing before he would indulge into slumber.

Noticing the sudden silence from the older, Jiwoo stopped laughing all at once, then pouted as he looked at the older.

“Minho, why are you looking at me like that?” Jiwoo asked the older, confused as to why there was something in the other’s eyes that he could not pinpoint.

As for Minho, he had always found Jiwoo interesting. Ever since they had met, the younger was a ball of sunshine, always looking at the positive side of things. Even when there were times that the younger was teased because of his looks, Jiwoo would just twist or remove some words from the sentence to make it positive.

Minho would find himself not understanding the junior at times, but most of the time, he would always try to understand the way Jiwoo thinks.

He was about to dive in more into his thoughts when he was suddenly being thrown off his chair.

“Jiwoo,” Minho shrieked as he felt his bottom colliding with the floor.

Despite his plea of cries, Jiwoo just stood here and gave out more laughter, as if his pain was the younger’s happiness.

“I am so sorry, Minho,” Jiwoo apologized eventually as he approached the older and helped him up to his face.

“Jiwoo, how many times must I remind you that I am older than you?” Minho asked as he huffed once he finally managed to regain balance.

Loving to spite the older, Jiwoo decided to play innocent and stupid at the question being thrown at him.

And so Jiwoo hummed and pretended to think, “You’re older than me?”

Minho was baffled, but nonetheless, played the game that the younger started, “I’m afraid I am, Jiwoo. Unless, you are actually an old man behind that hideous costume of yours.”

The younger gasped, “Hideous costume? Have you even looked at yourself in front of a mirror today?”

“Unlike you, I am more knowledgeable. I have practically lived three years longer than you.”

Jiwoo laughed at the statement, “You? You even asked me to help you with a project that I have no idea about!”

Minho pouted at that, for he was aware that he did ask for the younger’s help a few days back, a little bit puzzled at the work being assigned to him. But nonetheless, he still had more knowledge than the younger.

As Jiwoo continued to laugh about how Minho was bragging about his knowledge, the older had a sudden thought in mind, and he may have wanted to test it out as soon as possible.

With the younger being oblivious to the plan that he had made in his mind, Minho suddenly pounced onto Jiwoo then proceeded to tickle his sides.

More laughter erupted from the younger’s lips as he also tried to shout at the older to stop. Jiwoo was a very ticklish person, and knowing Minho, the older had already memorized the parts where he was most weak at. Hence why he was practically writhing with laughter under him.

“Minho,” Jiwoo breathed out, “Minho, please stop.”

Another flurry of laughter came out of his lips as the older tried to tickle him in a new spot, which was much more sensitive. He writhed even more as he tried to tickle Minho at his side. But it was no use since the older was wearing too much clothing.

Noticing the failed attempt, Minho found himself laughing at this point, also enjoying the look on Jiwon’s face as he tried to make the older stop. But both of them knew that it was another one of the younger’s useless attempts because the older was obviously much stronger.

“W-wait,” Jiwon heaved out as the tickling action started to grow slower.

Minho continued to lightly tickle the younger at his sides, giving Jiwon a chance to catch his breath. But just as the younger thought it was finally over, the older straddled him down on the floor once again as he found another area to tickle the younger.

Jiwon screamed at the sudden attack, then laughed for the nth time, trying to pry off the older above him.

And that was how they continued their session at the library, teasing and tickling each other to the point that they swore both of them could lose their voices tomorrow.

  
  
  


A few moments passed as the pair finally stopped tickling each other, leaving Minho laying on the floor with Jiwon straddling his waist. Both of them weren’t much aware of their positions as they both tried to catch their breaths and cool down the adrenaline they once had.

Once they finally managed to regain their composure, their breaths started to continue in a moderate pace, they finally took note of the position they were in.

Jiwoo had his hands placed on top of Minho’s chest, both of his legs straddling the waist of the older. Minho, on the other hand, had his hands resting on the waist of the younger, as if they were there to help the younger stay in his position.

They observed their positions, then looked at each other at the same time. 

The eye contact they shared started to feel a bit longer than the average eye contact they are used to sharing, and that was making Minho starting to feel warm inside. As if in a panic, he pushed Jiwoo away from him and stood up.

He looked away from the younger, trying to slap away the warmth that was starting to form in his cheeks. He would not admit it to himself nor to Jiwoo, but he may have some disturbed thoughts when they were in their previous position just now.

Hearing the groan that emitted from the younger, Minho immediately backed away from his thoughts then hurriedly went to Jiwoo’s side. The older wanted to laugh at how the younger glared at him as he rubbed the area that made contact with the floor.

“You looked at me weirdly, you pounced on me, tickled me, then pushed me away?!” Jiwoo enumerated and screeched, “Cha Minho, what do you want to do next, throw me against the bookshelves?”

Minho chuckled as he stretched out a hand towards the younger, “That may be a good idea for next time. What do you think?”

Jiwoo groaned as he glared at Minho then looked towards the outstretched hand. At first, he considered accepting the hand being offered and pull himself up, then he thought of just placing his hand onto the floor and pushing himself up.

He chose the latter.

“Well, suit yourself,” Minho commented as he retracted his rejected hand.

Once Jiwoo finally stood up from where he last sat on the floor, he stuck his tongue out at Minho then walked back towards their table to finally keep his things.

Seeing that Jiwoo was already packing his things, Minho followed suit and packed his own things as well.

There weren’t many things to talk about right now, both of them focusing on which paper was theirs, which pen, which pencil, which ruler, which notebook. Both Jiwoo and Minho were trying to be as cautious as possible with their things, because the last time they decided to just shove down the first thing they held on, Minho ended up in his lecture with a high school textbook instead of the ones he used in university.

A sigh of relief was made once the pair finally kept their stuff.

Minho zipped his bag close, certain that the things inside were all his and not a mixture of his and Jiwoo’s. After that, he slung the backpack on his arm as he looked at the younger.

“Ready?” Minho asked.

Jiwoo looked up after fixing his shirt, then nodded at the older.

With that, Minho went towards Jiwoo and slung a shoulder around him, a habit he found doing whenever he and the younger would start walking back to their respective houses. And soon after, they started to walk away from the table they were once using and through the doors of the library.

Every time they finished their mini study sessions at the library, Minho would always thank the heavens that the librarian would always be on her break whenever they would come. Imagine the chaos and the scolding they would get when she realizes that the famous childhood best friends in their neighborhood, both known for their intelligence, were actually lawbreakers of the simple _Keep Silent_ policy inside the library.

  
  


Once he had finished taking the younger home, Minho went on his way to his own home. It wasn’t much of a problem though, his and Jiwoo’s house were just two blocks away from each other.

When Minho arrived at his house, he wasn’t surprised to see the house dead silent, his parents must have gone on another spontaneous business trip without him knowing. He knew he should get used to it by now, his parents were practically not at their home for more than half of the year, but he would find himself getting envious at how lively the Son household was.

The older was glad that he had decided to eat at a nearby restaurant with Jiwoo before they went home. He wouldn’t want to eat alone in such a big table that was suited for five to six people.

After he had drunk a cup of milk and ate a piece of chocolate from the fridge, Minho made his way towards his bedroom, his bag on hand. But before he reached the stairs, he made sure to turn on the stereo in the middle of their living in order to make the house _less_ lonely.

He placed down his bag by the side of his desk then went back towards the door to lock it. 

On normal days when his parents were there with him, Minho would already have showered from top to bottom after a tired day. But tonight, he found being lazy to take a shower, and so, he simply rinsed his face with soap and water then with a wet towel, he wiped it against the skin on his arms and legs.

Once he deemed himself to be clean and had freshen up, he wore in much more comfortable clothes then headed to lay on his bed.

Tomorrow was the start of the weekend, and Minho would usually just laze around whenever it was Friday night — the only time he could find himself lazing around. 

Even though he had a number of works due on Monday, he didn’t really have the will to start working on them. Either he was being lazy, or he was just drained from the week.

As Minho laid on his bed, his vision staring at the ceiling above him, he couldn’t help but to remember the time he and Jiwoo first met. He would have blamed the ceiling, where he and the younger used to draw and paint random things and his parents wouldn’t even bother covering up the mess — saying it was a fond memory of his childhood, but it might be really because of his weekly missing Jiwoo hours.

He remembered how when he was just eight years old and he was strolling around the park, finding a friend of his while they were playing hide and seek. It was during that time that he had passed by a tree and he had heard a small whimper from it. He would have passed by it, giving no care about what happened to whoever, but he didn’t.

Instead, his eight year old self retracted from his tracks then went towards the tree. When he arrived, there he saw a boy younger than him, obviously struggling to get up.

As Minho continued to remember the memory, he couldn’t help but laugh at how the young Jiwoo was struggling at that time.

He remembered his eight year old self trying to hold back laughter when he saw the boy, but when the other looked up at him with teary eyes, he stopped in his laughter and cooed instead. He also remembered how the younger looked at him in a confused look, with his eyes glistening with tears.

Minho chuckled at the part where the younger Jiwoo was struggling to say his name and age.

_(“What’s your name?” eight year old Minho asked as he helped the younger to his feet._

_“J-jiwoo,” the younger answered, his voice so soft and silent that the older had almost not heard it._

_“Well Jiwoo, how about your age?”_

_“Five? Four?” Jiwoo struggled at the question as he tried to wreck his brain for the right answer._

_Minho just chuckled as he ruffled the younger’s hair, “That’s alright Jiwoo, I won’t force you to answer me.”_

_Just when the older was about to leave after he saw that the younger was already fine from top to bottom, Minho felt a hand reach out to his._

_“Hyung,” Jiwoo called out to him, his voice still as soft as ever._

_The older looked back at him, holding a face he knew wouldn’t scare off the younger, “Yes, Jiwoo?”_

_“Can you be my f-friend?”)_

At the time, Minho remembered his younger self being surprised at the sudden question being raised at him. He also remembered how his younger self almost rejected the younger.

He was glad that he didn’t and that he agreed to the friendship being offered to him, because as thirteen years passed, the eight year old and the five year old have become 21 and 18 years old, with their friendship still blooming every year.

There were times Minho would imagine if he had actually rejected the younger, and he would constantly shudder at the thought because he would never want a life without Jiwoo.

Jiwoo just meant a lot to him, being the only person he could truly open up with, and the only person who could help him when he was at his darkest point in life.

He would always remember the touch and warmth Jiwoo’s hugs would bring to him whenever the younger wasn’t available, and it would just remind Minho how much at home he felt with the younger.

But there were also feelings and words left unsaid between the both of them, and Minho knew that. He wasn’t dense and oblivious like Jiwoo. He could see, feel, and notice the way the younger looks at him. Not only that, he also knew how his heart would flutter and skip whenever he would look at the younger.

Minho tried to bury his feelings as much as he could, afraid to fall in love with his best friend. He was afraid that it would be the possible cause for their friendship to end.

But he wasn’t a coward.

It was just, the timing wasn’t right. There was something in the air that was saying that it was wrong yet right at the same time.

As much as he tried to forget it, he just really couldn’t stop the fluttering feeling inside. He just loved the way Jiwoo would smile, his eyes turning into crescents whenever they talk, his smile that would show off his bunny teeth, his cheeks that would bloat whenever he ate. Everything about the younger made Minho fall for the younger.

Sadly, his feelings weren't that easy to deal with, especially with the fact that he was already in university and Jiwoo was still trying to graduate from high school.

As Minho closed his eyes and slept that night, he dreamt of a reality where it was easier for him and Jiwoo to fall in love and call each other _mine_.

  
  
  
  


The next day, Minho ran up to the porch of the Son household, eager and enthusiastic to start the day with his best friend. Going out every Saturday has become a routine between the two, going wherever they like and going back home when the sun comes down. Their parents didn’t mind about that routine of theirs, having to become accustomed to the way they acted with each other.

“Hello Mrs. Son!” Minho greeted the woman as she opened the door for him.

“Jiwoo will be down in a minute,” she said as she smiled and pinched the other’s cheeks, “Gosh, I really cannot keep up with you two. Always going out despite the amount of work you both have.”

“There are priorities Mrs. Son, priorities.”

Both of them chatted for a while, Mrs. Son raising her concern for Jiwoo with taking the entrance examination that was coming up in a few months. Minho felt warm inside when she did, the paternal love in her emitting in every corner of the room.

He wondered if his mother did the same with him, asking for a friend and opening up to them.

As Mrs. Son continued, Minho opened up to her and assured her that everything would be fine and that Jiwoo would be able to do fine.

They were about to indulge in another topic when they heard a voice coming from the staircase.

“Mom, where are the socks that I planned on using today?” Jiwoo called.

“Use your eyes, not your mouth, Son Jiwoo,” his mother replied.

Minho chuckled as the short exchange suddenly progressed to bickering. He was enjoying how the younger’s voice started to get higher and higher by the minute.

When time passed, Jiwoo finally went down the staircase, ready to go with Minho to start the day.

The older was awestruck when he saw the younger coming down the steps, his attire was different to the usual sweater and pants that he would usually wear.

“Wow,” was all he could say and Jiwoo felt his cheeks start to blush at the comment.

“Thank you,” he replied shyly.

“And I think that is my cue to close the door on both of you and let you two enjoy your day,” Mrs. Son suddenly said as she pushed the boys out of the house.

When the door was closed shut, Minho and Jiwoo simply looked at each other then laughed. Mrs. Son tends to be playful at times, and today was just like any other.

Minho wanted to give out more compliments to the way Jiwoo was dressed today. He looked wonderful from top to bottom, with his jacket hugging his arms and his jeans hugging his thighs. He beamed when he saw that the shirt the younger was wearing was the gift he gave during his birthday.  
  


“Minho,” Jiwoo warned when he saw the older staring.

There wasn’t exactly anything wrong with Minho looking at him that way, it was just making him feel things. And he didn’t exactly like the fact of how foreign the feelings were. 

Nonetheless, he shook all those away.

Silence started to envelop them as Minho tried to look away from Jiwoo’s figure, his eyes wanting to take in more of the details in front of him. But enough was enough, and he didn’t like to scare away the younger.

_Stop looking, he is just there. It’s not like you won’t be seeing him tomorrow again._

And so, with Minho signalling them to move forward, Jiwoo followed suit. Both of them walking towards the first thing that came to mind.

  
  


“Really? The cinema? Out of all the places, Jiwoo,” Minho complained as the younger started to drag him towards the movie house.

“Please?” Jiwoo pleaded, “We went to your favorite places last week.”

Minho sighed and just let the younger drag him inside the movie house.

“But if it gets boring, then I choose where to go next.”

“Fine.”

Both of them approached the counter, where they paid for the tickets of the movie they were going to watch. They proceeded towards the snack bar where they bought one bucket of popcorn and two separate drinks for themselves.

Jiwoo led the both of them towards the room they were going to stay for two hours, and in his mind, he just couldn’t believe this was happening. It was mostly Minho’s decisions on where they were going, for he was afraid that the older wouldn’t like what he wanted.

That judgement of his changed in a flash though as he noticed the way Minho was beaming at every segment of the movie, too engrossed in it. Jiwoo saw the way the older’s eyes lit up when the main character would do something, and it made his insides feel warm.

They were already thirty minutes into the film, meaning one hour left before the movie finishes. The movie they were watching right now was something he saw the other day on the billboard, and Jiwoo was intrigued by it.

Hence why they were in the cinema today.

But that wasn’t the only thing that Jiwoo liked at the moment. He liked how his fingers would brush against the older’s, the way they would just drink whichever cup since they were confused who owns who. He also liked the way Minho would suddenly pull him in an embrace as he squealed and whatsoever.

Jiwoo was too deep in his thoughts and in the movies that he didn’t notice the older’s hand going into the bucket as well to get a scoop of popcorn. 

When both of them realized that, they froze as they made eye contact with each other. Both of them weren’t sure on how to act as they felt their hands holding onto each other instead of getting a handful of popcorn.

In their minds, both of them shared the exact same thought, but were oblivious that the other thought the same.

_There goes the fluttering feeling in my heart._

The moment they finally broke away from each other was the time the main character of the film screamed as sudden jumpscare came behind them. 

No, it wasn’t a horror film, it was a comedy film which Jiwoo thought he should probably pay to instead of the fast beating of his heart and use the movie as an excuse to blur out the thoughts in his mind.

  
  


After the film, both of them decided to eat out in a nearby restaurant. There weren’t much words to say to each other when they walked down the pavement and to the restaurant.

Though it was silent, Jiwoo was just glad that it wasn’t awkward. If it was, he would pray to whatever deity that was listening to him now to let the ground swallow him whole.

Once they arrived at the restaurant, Minho led them to a booth by the window. The restaurant wasn’t fancy, but not like a fastfood chain either. All in all, it was alright.

As Jiwoo picked up the menu from the table once they sat, Minho couldn’t help but to notice the little details of how the younger’s fingers moved when he went to pick up the menu.

The older coughed eternally which made the younger look up at him in confusion.

“Are you alright, Minho? Did you catch a cold while watching the movie?” Jiwoo asked, his voice laced with concern.

Minho simply waved at him, “No, I’m alright. Just choked on my spit, that’s all.”

It was a plausible reason, and the older felt relieved when the younger didn’t push on the matter for another minute longer and went back to choosing what he should eat for lunch.

A minute passed as the waiter arrived at their table, ready to jut down their orders in the small notepad that he brings around.

“What can I help you today, sir?” he asked as politely as possible.

Jiwoo answered the list of things that he wanted to taste and eat from the menu. Once he was done, he kept quiet as he let Minho order what he wanted.

It came though, the older too engrossed in his own thoughts.

Minho came out of his reverie when he felt someone stepping on his foot. He glared at the source of the pain, who simply signalled at him who decided to join them.

He looked at the direction where Jiwoo motioned at, and was surprised to see the waiter standing there, looking at him to finally get his job on their table finished.

The older cleared his throat thrice as he sat on his seat properly and answered.

“I will take what he ordered,” Minho said.

Just before the waiter was about to jut it down, Jiwoo decided to speak up.

“You are going to eat mint chocolate ice cream for your dessert?”

Minho paused as he let the question sink in. It was an obvious fact between them that the older disliked the taste of mint chocolate, its taste similar to toothpaste and it just didn’t sit right with him. In a short panic, he looked at the waiter with semi-pleading eyes.

“So can I just get vanilla ice cream instead of mint chocolate?” he asked the waiter, who simply jutted that down.

Once the waiter left, Minho glared at the younger as he accused him of stepping on his favorite pair of shoes.

“Please, you were zoning out. It was the least that I could,” Jiwoo replied as he leaned in his seat.

“You could have just called my name though.”

“Well, won’t that be a bother?”

“How is calling my name a bother?” Minho asked.

“It’s too hard to pronounce,” Jiwoo answered.

“You have been saying my name since you were five!”

“Hush, we don’t want the others to hear that,” Jiwoo said coolly as he pointed towards the other guests in the restaurant.

Minho huffed on his seat as he gazed at the view out of the window. He wasn’t mad at Jiwoo, besides he could _never_ get mad at the younger. He was just mad at the fact that his favorite pair of shoes were ruined because of the eighteen year old in front of him.

They sat in silence for a while as the older found himself starting to doze off to the instrumental music playing in the background, its keys playing a melody that he remembered falling asleep to whenever he was stressed.

But just before he could sleep, he was jolted awake when the sound of a plate clattered resonated in their booth. 

Minho looked up to see Jiwoo smiling at him as he placed down the plate of food the older ordered.

“If you keep that up, I will not hesitate to throw your plate out of the window,” Minho threatened.

“As if you would do that,” Jiwoo replied as he sat back on his seat and started to indulge in his own meal.

_That’s right._

_As if I could actually try to harm you._

Minho shook all his thoughts away as he also started to dig in his own plate of food, savoring the unique taste of the viant he was having. 

And of course, he also couldn’t help but to also stare at the way the younger’s cheeks would bloat as Jiwoo would take in another spoonful of food into his mouth.

  
  
  
  


Nightfall came as the two found themselves walking along the streets of Seoul. After they ate lunch, they went bowling then went inside a random bookstore. Once they finished their visit at the bookstore, they decided to just bask in the beauty of the night sky.

As they walked down the pavement, Minho still couldn’t help but to look at Jiwoo and admire the beauty on his face. He took in the way the moonlight would shine upon him and it would just define his features even more. At how his lips would pout when he spoke.

At this point, the older wasn’t sure what the younger was talking about, too busy admiring his beauty. 

He got out of his reverie though when he bumped into a stranger.

Minho tensed when he felt the collision, and immediately apologized to the other human. As the older looked up, he noticed how Jiwoo was already a few steps away from him and was laughing at his misfortune.

“It wasn’t even funny,” he argued.

“Minho, I don’t even know who is the true elder between us anymore,” Jiwoo joked as the older approached.

“But I’m older.”

“Yeah, but you literally just are a clumsy little baby who needs someone like me!” the younger’s voice was cheery and it made the older’s heart scream within him.

“Someone like you?”

“You need to be honest, Min. I _am_ the more mature one here.”

“ _Most mature one here, my feet_ ,” Minho mumbled under his breath.

Jiwoo caught up to that and asked, “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” the older replied as if he didn’t just badmouth the younger a second ago.

As they continued to walk down the pavement, they adored at how the night sky contrasted the dozens of lights being lit up on the streets. To say it was beautiful was an understatement, for it was more than beautiful, but Jiwon wasn’t sure what word is better than beautiful so he decided to stick with that.

The more time passed, Jiwoo would occasionally also steal a glance at the older, and whenever he did, his heart would just start pounding like crazy, and his eardrums would feel a ringing sensation, one that was buzzing and was growing louder every minute.

At first, Jiwoo let the buzzing noises pass as if it were a normal thing. But when it just continued to grow louder, he realized that it wasn’t normal, and it was _far from normal_.

On instinct whenever he had concerns to raise, the younger tapped the older on the shoulder. When Minho had finally turned around, Jiwoo tried to form the right words to say in his mind.

“So hyung,” Jiwoo started.

This made Minho worried though, since Jiwoo never uses honorifics unless it was serious, “Is everything alright, Jiwoo?”

The younger hesitated at first, but before he even got the chance to speak, the loudest buzzing sound resonated in the area. 

Like an immediate reaction, the pair looked towards the direction the buzzing sound came from. Sadly, they never got the chance to see what was the cause of it. The only thing they saw once they looked into that direction was white and nothing more.

Now, the pair laid limp against the pavement, their hands intertwined with each other’s. Both of their souls hoping that in their next life, they would finally be in each other’s arms.

  
  


**_Seoul: 56 killed at surprise bomb attack_ **

  
  
  
  


༒❦༒︎

  
  
  
  


The crowd was bustling around the corridors of the new building he found himself working at. Jaehyun took in the gray-colored walls, the color being common in every office building he had ever seen. 

It has been a few days since he got accepted to be a trainee in SM Entertainment, and he remembered how ecstatic he got and how cheery he was when he mentioned the news to his mother. As expected, she was proud of her son, and Jaehyun felt very warm inside while knowing his mother had supported his dream.

As he continued to walk down the halls towards the cafeteria, he hummed a tune to himself as he took in the pictures of the idols that had debuted before him. Jaehyun paused every once in a while when he saw the pictures of groups Super Junior, Shinee, and SNSD, while thinking if he could do the same like them one day.

When Jaehyun was already close to the cafeteria, he felt someone’s wrist brush by his. Normally he would have already just left and forgotten about the action, but when his wrists collided with the person’s, he suddenly felt goosebumps rising on his skin.

He paused, and Jaehyun swore that he also felt the other pausing.

As if it was on instinct, or simply just an immediate reaction of the body, both of them looked at each other with the latter turning around to see who he just made contact with. And when he did, he never felt something like _this_ before.

_I don’t think we have ever met before, but why does he look so familiar?_ Jaehyun thought.

Both of them simply stood there, not sure whether they should move, greet, or just back away and forget about each other’s existence. They chose neither, still continuing to stand in the bustling hall of workers and staff going in and out of the rooms around them.

The more time passed, Jaehyun really couldn’t help but to feel a familiar sensation when he continued to stare into the other’s eyes.

And just as he was about to figure out why, the person in front of him started to clear his throat through coughing, bringing Jaehyun out of his reverie.

Silence came between them, then a voice Jaehyun so oddly knew he heard before started to resonate between them.

“Can you _please_ stop holding my wrist? I didn’t come here to be touched likes this,” the person spoke, his voice so familiar yet the latter swore that they both had never met before.

When the person directed towards the space between them, that was finally the time Jaehyun realized that not only was he looking at the other’s eyes, but he was also holding onto him. He hurriedly backed away as if the skin he previously made contact with stung him.

“I’m sorry,” Jaehyun quickly apologized as he backed away with one step. 

Both of them stood there awkwardly after that, not one of them really sure if this was a sign to start walking towards they were supposed to, or if they should introduce themselves to one another.

They chose the first, but before they finally stepped away from each other’s personal space, they properly bid each other goodbye, but Jaehyun was certain that the other male he just met wouldn’t want to meet him again after such an odd encounter.

Sadly that wasn’t the case though. As soon as Jaehyun had entered the practice room after he had taken his lunch at the cafeteria with another trainee, he was surprised to see the same male sitting at the corner of the room, scrolling through his phone on hand.

When the latter had shut the door close, the other person in the room immediately looked up and gasped when he saw the familiar face.

“And here I thought I would be able to escape from your weird fettish of holding a stranger’s hand,” the person said with a sarcastic tone.

“What are you doing here?” Jaehyun asked instead of replying to the statement being thrown at him.

“Excuse you, but I have every right to be here.”

“I am asking you _what_ , not how much right you have.”

The other person sighed, “I’m a trainee, for your information. Most probably unlike you, Mr. Tall Guy Looking Like A Delivery Man.”

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at the sudden nickname, then looked down on his clothes. Was it his fault that the weather was chilly today and he decided to wear a sleeveless padded jacket to keep him warm today?

“Well for your information as well, I am also a trainee here,” he answered.

“Good for you then,” the person replied until realization dawned upon him, “Wait a minute.”

The said person then hurriedly scrolled through his phone, to which Jaehyun assumed that he was scrolling through a chatroom if he was scrolling through his phone that fast.

The person gasped, which made the latter’s mind more intrigued.

The other looked from his phone then back up at Jaehyun, then back on his phone once again.

“You’re Jung Jaehyun?” the person asked.

“Uh, yes? Is there something wrong?”

What Jaehyun did not expect out of the exchange they had just now was the other person suddenly shaking his hand as if he were a celebrity instead of a fellow trainee like him.

The other person then continued to babble on how Jaehyun was practically the talk between the trainees for how good he looked, how talented he was, and how soothing his voice was when he talked.

As the other continued, Jaehyun was baffled at the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“Woah woah,” he suddenly expressed, “we still have a lot of time to talk. Don’t rush it or you would end up losing too much oxygen. Plus, you still haven’t told me your name.”

The other person paused in the words he was saying and caught his breath.

“Oh right,” he said as he realized that he, in fact, had never mentioned his name, “well I’m Doyoung, Kim Doyoung. Real name is Kim Dongyoung though, but please do call me Doyoung.”

Jaehyun nodded as he shook the other’s hand, silently hoping that they would be on good terms since the other has been talking about him in such a fond way just a few seconds ago.

  
  
  
  


What Jaehyun expected to be on good terms wasn’t actually how the events had transpired between the pair. 

Over the course of five years, there were a lot of things that he had learned and experienced with the older. It all started with him learning about Doyoung being a year and 13 days older than him, to them training together, then amidst training was that they became music show MCs together, followed by that was them being told about their debut in a new group called NCT U, then after that came in their debut date and their debut stage together.

That was not all though, if Jaehyun were to continue listing. But for the sake of trying to reminisce — he loves to remember things at night before he went to bed, he continued to list down the things he and Doyoung had done.

And so he continued how after a few months he debuted in NCT 127, Doyoung also had followed suit together with Johnny. After that, he remembered how he and Doyoung had became roommates for a while until they had to switch because of Mark and Donghyuck having beef between them for quite some time, then to them becoming roommates every once in a while whenever they were on tour, then finally them bickering here and there.

Jaehyun knew that he had left some things here and there, but he exactly didn’t remember the details of each event so he was sticking to the list he had made. And of course, he still remembered the two Weekly Idol episodes they had filmed, the one from Superhuman and the one from Kick It.

The latter would admit, or maybe he won’t, but as the years went by and the more he and Doyoung grew closer, the strange familiar feeling was still there. Like it was as if he and the older had actually met before the day of their encounter by the hall at the cafeteria.

Whenever he thought of that though, he would always find himself shaking away that thought, concluding that thinking about it was too absurd when in fact, he and Doyoung had only met when they just started training.

As Jaehyun went to sleep after reminiscing the times he had with the members, he wore a little smile on his face as the dream of a boy and another boy in a park came into view.

  
  


The next day, Jaehyun had woken up to ice being splashed on his face. As a result, he shot up from his bed too quickly, resulting in him bumping into Jungwoo’s nose hard.

“Holy shit, I am so sorry Jungwoo,” he had hurriedly said as he noticed how his roommate’s nose started to bleed.

Jungwoo covered his nose to stop the bleeding then simply waved Jaehyun off. Once he did that, he immediately dashed to the sink, since someone decided to take a shower while his nose was bleeding.

When his roommate had left, Jaehyun took in the mess his bed was in. Some areas of his bed were wet from the result of the ice melting. He groaned at that, but decided to clean that up later.

The reason why was because he still had plans for today, and that involved a certain Kim Doyoung.

A quick trip down memory lane, Jaehyun remembered how he and Doyoung had always gone to different places when they were trainees. But now that they were older and a few years into their idol career, it was like the more their time had been occupied with the schedules they needed to do. 

With that being said, the both of them had come to an agreement that whenever they didn’t have plans or schedules on a Saturday, they would use the time to stroll around the city or wherever Doyoung had planned for the day.

As a notification resonated in the room, Jaehyun hurriedly took his towel then proceeded to the bathroom to take a bath.

  
  


**doyoungie hyungie**

_if you will be late today, i won’t hesitate to throw away_

_the tickets of your favorite museum_

  
  


Doyoung looked down at his phone to check the time then looked back up at the 10th floor window to see if the person he was waiting for made any progress. He groaned as another five minutes had passed as he waited for Jaehyun.

In all honesty, he wasn’t really mad at the younger for being late. What they were about to do now wasn’t exactly a schedule of theirs, rather a time to get away from the responsibilities they have accepted since their first day as trainees.

But still, punctuality needs to be practiced every once in a while.

When Doyoung was about to call the younger on his phone to hurry up, he heard panting breaths from his side. And just upon hearing the sound of his breath, he knew who exactly had come down.

“D-Doyoung,” Jaehyun called whilst catching his own breath.

“You’re late by exactly 45 minutes Jaehyun,” Doyoung replied.

“I’m sorry.”

“What were you even doing while I was here waiting for you?”

Jaehyun blushed brightly as he recalled the happenings of the morning in his mind. When Doyoung saw that, he knew and could easily tell what the younger just did. And so he hurriedly just waved the younger off as he looked away.

“Don’t, I do not need to hear another story of you shitting too hard,” the older groaned while half-joking with his statement.

The younger simply gave out a laugh as he approached the older and wrapped an arm around him, “Just as I thought, Mr. Punctuality Is Important.”

Doyoung groaned at the nickname while blushing at the action Jaehyun just initiated between the two. They were always like this behind cameras: wrapping their arms around each other, holding hands every once in a while, and even holding each other’s bags. But even though this was a normal thing to do, he still couldn’t help but to feel his heart racing and his cheeks heating up.

When Jaehyun noticed this, he immediately cooed and pinched the older’s cheeks.

“Did I make Doie mad?” he asked in a singsong voice.

“Shut up,” Doyoung replied.

“Why should I even shut up, you big baby?”

“Shut up or I am throwing away the tickets inside my bag.”

Jaehyun placed back his arm around the older’s shoulder and his other hand inside his pocket, “Pfft, you didn’t have to give a half-hearted threat.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow, “Who said it was half-hearted? We are literally using my money right now.”

“Yeah yeah whatever.”

“So will you stop holding me in your arms now, Jaehyun?”

“Never in a million years Kim, never in a million years.”

  
  


There was always this one place that Doyoung and Jaehyun would go. There wasn’t any particular reason why they do so, but what they liked about this place was how you could get fresh air while strolling around the air.

As the both of them reached the top of the slope that reached to the Namsan tower, Doyoung heaved out a heavy breath as he leaned against Jaehyun for support. He concluded that what he did just now was too much work and that it was enough for today.

Jaehyun, on the other hand, stifled back laughter as he helped the older up to his feet.

“And here I thought you would love walking up here since this was part of the plans you made for today,” he said.

“Well, you were the one who insisted that we come here,” Doyoung replied.

After they visited a museum nearby, the older had given the younger a chance to choose where they were going next, either Itaewon or Namsan. And as expected of the younger, he had chosen Namsan.

“You know that’s not true. You gave me a choice,” Jaehyun pouted as he replied.

Doyoung groaned, “Whatever.”

Both of them smiled at each other for a while, basking in the cold weather around them and simply staring into each other’s eyes. Doyoung’s eyes, in Jaehyun’s opinion, was the most beautiful puzzle he had ever seen, getting lost in them every time he looked into it. Meanwhile the older thought that the younger’s eyes were similar to a black role, ready to suck him in.

The pair coughed as they cleared their throats, thinking that they have been staring for too long.

Jaehyun signalled for them to move forward, reaching out his hand for Doyoung to hold. The older nodded at him as he held back the younger’s hand, and with that, they started walking towards the tower to enjoy their day there.

  
  


After a few hours of walking around the area and taking more than enough pictures of each other to last a lifetime, both Doyoung and Jaehyun had silently agreed that they should probably take their supper now, seeing how the night sky was starting to come in.

As they went down the slope, Jaehyun laughed out loud as Doyoung stumbled upon his own foot and ended up tumbling forward, resulting in him hitting a stranger.

The older flushed hard when he realized, his cheeks starting to become beet red. He immediately apologized to the stranger he bumped into, then hurried to where the laughing younger stopped in his tracks.

“You could have stopped me from falling, you know!” Doyoung said as he stopped in front of Jaehyun.

Jaehyun wiped away a tear that came with his laughter, “How I wish I actually took a video of that.”

When the younger noticed how the older suddenly went silent, he looked up to see if there was something wrong. But as soon as he looked up, he was immediately slapped on the back and he felt a sudden air passing by him.

At first he was confused, then he realized that it was actually Doyoung who had dashed by him. From where Jaehyun stood, he could see the older’s frame growing smaller and smaller as time passed. When he saw that the other was already at the bottom, he took this as a signal to start his own race towards the bottom.

And let’s just say that Doyoung and Jaehyun ended up rolling across the floor in each other’s arms, because the loving Jung Jaehyun may have also ended up stumbling upon his own pair of feet and the older just had to catch him.

After the fiasco that had taken place in Namsan, both of them walked down the pavement hand in hand as they observed the busy cars and the lights coming from the buildings.

“Wait, didn’t you tell me that you had gotten your driver’s license?” Jaehyun suddenly asked, reminded thanks to the cars he just saw.

“Didn’t _you_ also get your driver’s license?” Doyoung asked back.

“Hey, I asked you first.”

“I don’t have a car if that is what you are asking,” the older replied coolly as the younger gasped, “What? Do you think I would own a car when we barely have time to ourselves?”

Jaehyun pouted, “We would have already reached the restaurant you reserved for us if you just had the car.”

Doyoung cooed as he pinched one side of the younger’s cheeks, “Are you tired now, Woojae?”

And just like that, the atmosphere between them shifted. There was nothing wrong with the sudden use of the nickname, in fact, there was nothing wrong with it at all. It may be just because of the fact that it’s been a while that the older had used it for the younger.

They just stood there in complete silence, until Jaehyun noticed where they were at.

“Oh hey, it’s the sushi restaurant you reserved for us,” he said with a awkward laugh at the end.

Both of them regained their composure first before they proceeded to enter the restaurant. The restaurant, per se, wasn’t expensive nor cheap. It was more like in the middle, but the real reason why Doyoung had chosen it was because it was located in a secluded area, meaning lesser people to be around with.

Just as expected by the description given to him by his brother, Gongmyung, the restaurant was indeed occupied by just a few people. The older greeted the server by the door, which Jaehyun immediately followed.

They were led to a table in the far corner, a bit far from the other guests. Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at first, then shrugged it off whilst thinking that Doyoung must have placed it into consideration if someone would follow them.

The server suddenly arrived with menus at hand, and handed it out towards the pair. The younger accepted it while the older hurriedly typed something in his phone. Once he saw that Doyoung placed his phone down, he gave out the other menu to him.

“So what do you want to order?” Doyoung asked as soon as he received the menu.

But instead of answering, Jaehyun threw him another question, “Who were you texting?”

He wasn’t jealous, he was _curious_.

The older hummed, “It was just Gongmyung. I asked him for recommendations.”

“Are you really sure it’s Gongmyung though?”

“Jaehyun, if you really end up asking me if I do not know my own brother, I swear you will have to pay for today’s dinner, threefold of the original price,” Doyoung threatened as he continued to skim through the menu.

Jaehyun slumped back in his seat, bringing the menu up to his face. He covered his face with it as he started to skim through the menu on what he should order. Whilst doing that, he also mumbled under his breath how Doyoung was the most annoying person in the world.

On the other hand, Doyoung was trying so hard not to laugh as he could hear the words that came with the younger’s mumbles. It wasn’t that he was eavesdropping, it was that Jaehyun was actually trying to make him _hear_ the words he was saying.

The more time passed, they finally decided what to eat and signalled for a waiter to take their orders. Both of them placed an input on what they should order, and just before the waiter could leave, she informed them of the sudden challenge that their restaurant was having.

“We have been starting to put up challengers every other week for customers who sit on certain tables, and you both just so happened to sit on Table 10!” she beamed as soon as she started, “So the challenge is if you both can finish off 15 plates of sushi, then the amount you have to pay would be at most, 75% off.”

“Excuse me,” Jaehyun butted, “is it possible to back out from this?”

Before he had gotten a reply from the waiter, Doyoung immediately raised a hand.

“We accept! Don’t listen to that dude over there, he doesn’t know anything about discounts,” he said.

The waiter nodded and informed them that their order should arrive in 15 minutes.

Once she left, Jaehyun immediately looked at the older with the most surprised look that he could muster.

“Doyoung, you are aware that we cannot finish 15 plates each, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” the older replied.

“And you are fully aware of the fact that you just accepted a challenge that requires us to do that?”

“Yes.”

“Doyoung!” Jaehyun whined.

“What?” Doyoung looked at him, “It isn’t like it's the end of the world Jaehyun. We don’t even have schedules tomorrow. Plus, the offer is very tempting, and you should really learn a thing or two about discounts. It may just help you save a lot of money.”

Fifteen minutes passed since their exchange as they occasionally sipped on a cup of water and played with the place mat being set on their table. At the same time, the waiter arrived with the tray of food that they had ordered and placed it on their table. Then a second later, came in an extra table that also contained more sushi to finish.

_This is not real_ , Jaehyun thought as he saw the number of plates. 

On their main table, they had already 15 plates, which is enough for the both of them. But then on the extra table, there were also 15 more plates for them to finish.

“We aren’t going to get timed for this, right?” he asked the waiter.

“No sir, just eat until you have reached the limit,” the waiter replied before she started on her own way.

Before Doyoung and Jaehyun had dove into their food, they had come to an agreement that the one who cannot reach the required number of plates first would be the one paying their meal for tonight.

And with that, they started to eat the food that has been set up in front of them.

  
  


The results weren’t much of a shock in all honesty. Doyoung had already expected that Jaehyun would be able to eat fifteen plates faster than him, but he just wanted to have some fun while eating. Hence why he had agreed to the challenge.

He may be competitive, but there is only so much his stomach could take.

As he continued to eat, Jaehyun burped a little bit too loud after drinking cola to unclench the thirst he had while eating. 

With nothing to do, he decided to enjoy how the older ate his sushi, his cheeks bloating at the sides whilst munching on the rice-seaweed-seafood combination. It was so cute that he wanted to pinch his cheeks, but decided that for later.

Time passed as they both had finally finished eating all of the plates, their taste buds still dancing at the most wonderful taste they had received in a while. Doyoung called out for the waiter, ready to pay when Jaehyun stopped him.

“Wait, I thought I was going to pay?”

“Jaehyun, I thought the one who loses is going to be the one to pay.”

Jaehyun shook his head as he handed out his card towards the waiter, “Don’t worry Doyoung. This is only one of the rare moments when I have the chance to treat you.”

The older scoffed, “You bought me shoes yesterday.”

“Shoes and food are different.”

“But you are spending money, Jaehyun.”

“Yeah, my money.”

“You really are going to end up broke someday. And I hate that I have a feeling I would be the one carrying you out of that hole when the day comes,” Doyoung said as he groaned inside.

The waiter came back as soon as the older had finished his last statement, and Jaehyun accepted his card being outstretched to him by the waiter. After that, they both stood up, stretched their limbs after sitting down for an hour and proceeded to go out of the restaurant.

They thanked the people by the door then exited out of the vicinity, feeling the cold breeze made contact with their face.

When they looked up, the night sky grew even darker, the moon and stars more clearer at this time of the night. There were also more people in the area as Doyoung had observed.

“Shall we head back to our dorms now?” Jaehyun asked, breaking the older out of his reverie.

Doyoung nodded and told Jaehyun to call them an uber to ride, since if they talk towards where they live, they might end up getting sick from the cold. 

When the younger had reassured him that he had already called one and was already a few meters away from the location that he had placed, both of them held hands as they decided to run through the sea of people under the night sky, the stars twinkling above them.

To Doyoung, the feeling he was having now was close to something nostalgic, as if he had already experienced this moment with Jaehyun. It made his heart flutter, but there were still questions as to how he can feel nostalgic at the moment when this was their first time staying out until night time.

On the other hand, Jaehyun was also feeling the same thing. But when he had held the older’s hand, his mind immediately went back to the first day they had met in the office. The more he remembered, the more he had felt goosebumps in his skin and it was overwhelming, but in a good way.

When they arrived at the location, it was also just in time for their driver to pull up in front of them. Once the car was settled, both of them immediately went in, their hands still connected with each other.

They gave out a sigh of relief when warmth finally made contact with their skin, a contrast of the cold they had felt outside just a second ago. Jaehyun informed the driver of the location of their dorms, and once he was done, the driver immediately started to drive.

The younger leaned back in his seat, and when he was about to tug his other hand, he realized that there was still something holding him. As he looked down, he felt warm inside as he saw how perfect his and Doyoung’s hands were, intertwined with each other as if they were missing puzzle pieces finally together.

When Jaehyun looked up, his heart fluttered when he saw Doyoung looking back at him, a smile plastered on his face. As soon as he saw the older’s smile, he also couldn’t help but to smile back as well.

Time passed quickly as they felt the driver pull up to their dorm building. Jaehyun told Doyoung to wait outside as he paid for the ride they just had. The older already would have complained, but he simply followed, his heart warm at the gesture.

Jaehyun soon stepped out of the car, the driver driving off once he was already by the older’s side. The both of them stood there with silence between them. They basked into the feeling around them, and even though it was cold, there was something different about the atmosphere around them.

“Hey Jaehyun,” Doyoung called out.

“Yes, Doyoung?”

“Thank you for today. I actually did not expect you to start paying as the end of our day ended. I actually had reserved money for this already,” the older told him.

Jaehyun smiled as he looked at Doyoung, “There is really nothing wrong if I spend my money again and again, Doyoung. If it means that it can assure me to see a smile on your face, then why not?”

Silence enveloped them, but it wasn’t the awkward one. It was more like a comforting silence where you just know that there aren’t much words to say, but it’s there to comfort you when you need it.

They stood there in silence, their eyes staring into each other for the nth time that day. It was so endearing to stare at them, in Jaehyun’s opinion. From his eyes, the younger then moved down to stare at the older’s lips. He saw how red it was as a result of the cold, and it was as if something had pushed him or was it just his instinct, but he leaned in forward and gave it a quick peck.

When Jaehyun realized what he had done, he immediately panicked as the older felt his cheeks turning red.

“Oh my gosh Doyoung, I am so sorry. I don’t know what—”

“Jaehyun,” the older cutted him off.

The younger gulped, “Yes?”

“Do it again.”

_What?_ the younger thought.

“Do it or I’m breaking your neck.”

And it was obvious that Jaehyun did not want to have his neck broken up.

The younger leaned in slowly towards the older, but Doyoung had gotten impatient as more time passed. So he placed his hand against the younger’s neck which had caused the latter to yelp, pulled him in and closed the gap between them.

Their emotions were on high when their lips had made contact, the warmth inside overpowering the cold around them. When they had finally got used to the action, Jaehyun stood up properly then wrapped his arms around Doyoung’s waist, pulling him even closer.

Call it cliche or not, but in the corner of their eyes, they saw how snow started falling out of nowhere as they kissed, Because of it, they giggled into their kiss then proceeded.

As they continued to kiss, their lips sliding against each other, tasting and savoring the feeling of one’s lips against theirs, they felt like the world started to disappear and they were suddenly in another world that it was just them alone.

Jaehyun felt his heart raising as the kiss continued, his arms pulling Doyoung even closer as if to take more of him. Doyoung, on the other hand, let him be taken by the younger, enjoying the moment that had finally come ever since he had started to feel things for the younger back in their trainee days.

It was sad to pull away, but they needed it in order to breath. As they pulled away, both of them had maintained eye contact with each other. As one tried to catch their breath, they could feel the rising and falling of the chest, and Doyoung thought that it was a special thing to feel.

“Jaehyun, has it ever crossed your mind that we may have met before our times now?” the older suddenly asked.

Jaehyun looked down on the older who was leaning up against him, “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know, but there is just the familiar feeling whenever I am with you and I cannot fathom how or why am I feeling this way.”

“You feel that too? Oh my gosh, and here I thought, I was about to go crazy while thinking about you.”

They shared a laugh at the words Jaehyun just said. And when their laughter died, they took in more details about the smiles that were plastered on their faces, porcelain-like colors painted on it.

“Doyoung, if your theory of us having met in our past lives is actually true, then I hope that every other life that comes after this would still be us ending up together,” Jaehyun confessed.

“And if I were given a chance to live again at the same time as you, then there is no doubt that I would still be choosing you again,” Doyoung replied.

They stared one last time to each other’s eyes, then closed the gap between them once more.

Both of them weren’t sure what kind of label they should put to whatever they were. They already had known each other for quite some time now, have been living together for about five years now, and have been through together.

It would still be fine if they would take things slow, but it would also be nice to just go ahead and start dating.

If Doyoung were to have a say in this, he would choose the second option and just start dating Jaehyun when the next day comes.

And Jaehyun? He just wants to make sure that every second of his life, every minute, every hour, every month, and every important day of his life would be spent by Doyoung’s side — the person who he had found himself falling in love with.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! 
> 
> leave a kudos and a comment! <3
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jaejaesus)  
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/119th)


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